Carbureting system



June 26, 1928.

Filed, Nov. 23, 1926 Patented June 26, 1928.

, w; KAFF NB RGHJR, onnosrron', MASSACHUSETTS.

i can];unn'rmo sYs'rEMj a ncaabn filed November 23, 1926. Sta-a No."150',3 39.

The present inventionrelatesto a {carbui provide a novel'carbureting system or method for forming'a combustiblefuel mixture whereby, carbon' apparently may be pre-.j

vvented from depositing or formingupon the interior surfaces ofan internal combustion engine, such as cylinder Walls andthe piston heads, for example,- and whereby substantially complete combustion' apparently may 7 1 directly intothecarburetor be attained. v i i ,Another object/of the invention is to provide, in connection with an internal combustion engine, means whereby water or Watervapor may be superheated} or heated to a" temperature above its boiling point under the existing pressure, and injected into the cylinders of an {internal 'combustion engine I With the fuel mixture Without permitting condensatio'n'of tlieY Water-vapor to take I "perimentsI have found thatby Withdrawing" place, I p e I A'further object of the invention is to pro -vide means whereby Water or Water-vapor may be" Withdrawn from theradiator ot an automobile'and heated to temperature above its" boiling point andth'erea'fter passed in regulated amounts to the c'arburetedj;

yapor drectly motor fuelfbetyyeen the carburetor and increase 1 in the 'posited' carbon. This method "apparently theremova'l' of some carbon," alaction is apparently entirely" engine, whereby a substantially homogeneouscombustible mixture of carbureted motor fuel is provided and; whereby; the water- 1 vapor "is jmade available in each of the cyl: "indersb'f the enginefwith the following 'apparent, advantageous results 2 the removalf of deposited carbon, the"prevention of the deposition "of carbon, and in addition an" motive-power obtained from T from the motor fuel.

" claims) One syste1n=ivhicli hasbeen experimented 'offthe" engine in order 'to'remove the de-' results 1n short interval of time.

v With theseand other objects in View, the" "invention" comprisesthe various features Which vvill befhereina'fter more-fully described particularly defined in the ":FiglQ'isiua det I ng the heater or stove by "mean's'iott which Water or water-vapor from the radiator 1s through thedifle're'nce in the rate of expansion of the carbon and the cylinder Walls. This system is entirely unsatisfactory .because the ater injected into the'fengine physical, some of the carbon beingloosen'ed causes local cooling and contraction of themetal surfaces with which it contacts and moreover resultsin incomplete combustion of the motor fuel. Moreover ,the Water does.

not-react With'the carbon be'causethe te m peratu're is'not sufficiently high: under these" conditions Another system which has been used involves Withdrawing Water-vapor from the radiator of an'yautomo'blle and pass ng" 1t to be'mixed' W1th r the gasoline air-'mixture;"from Which it passes to the mtal'ze'm'anifold.of theengineL It has been found,,however; that a large'pi'oportion off the waterwapor passed tothe carburetor condenses therein and eventually" duces unsatisfactory operation'thereo'f in" a' As the result'o'f a large number "of."eX-

the aqueous fluid, such as Water fof "watere and passingit, through a heating device which heats the water or water-vapor to a temperature above its boiling or vaporizingpoint and then passing the heated Waterpoint between'the carburetorand the engine; the carbon is apparently rapidly removed ofthe engine. -*'During the combustion of the motor fuel moreover the presence ofthe preventiormation or deposition of'carbon on the metalsurfaces n the engm'e5; and

causes clogging of the'carburetor'and pm i 'to it-he inlet manifol'dtat a f from thecylinder Walls and other portions? heated Water-vapor serves apparently to I serves [also to increasie h power obtained The various i'eatures'of the invention are illustrated? in their preferred form in the" accompanyingdrawings, which'z' 1 e in p p' lve'showifis a portion of the forward endxofan automobile 1 OT-Which y vent n in applied; a

ailed view; in section showheated; 7

} Fig. 3 is a Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view ofthe regulating means employed for regulating the amount of water or water-vapor passing to-the stove and engine, the regulating means being connected to and controlled from the dashboard of the automobile.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the numeral 2 indicates a radiator of the usual form having a radiator cap 4;, the

mediator being connected to the water j ackcts of engine 6 by the usual hose connection 8. Within the radiator and located preferably immediately below the cap 4 is one end, of

a pipe 10, which preferably ext-ends upwvardly above the normal water level .in the radiator or if desired it may extend ust above the opening of the overflow pipe, and extends :don nwardlyout of the radiator, as indicated in the drawing to the'inlet-opening 12'0f :aheater .or stove 14 which is attached by suitable means to the exhaust manifold 116 of the iin'teiznal. combustion engine.

The stove or heater 14 is preferably made ginitwo pants, at :base portion 18. which is pret'erably of brass or other h ghly con- .-duc-ting metal and which maybe secured to the manifold 16 bymeansof a bolt or set screw 20, and a hollow cap 22, adapted to be connected to the base, which is preferably connected thereto by means of a screw-- threaded connection 24, the cap being screwed into place so as to abut the shoulder 26 on the base member 18, In the base ,,me1nber 18 is an opening 28 to which the pipe 1 0 isconnected, and extending through the base member 18 area number of openings or passageways 19, 21 and23, which lead from the inlet opening 28 to the hollow portion .or chamber 30 of the cap 22. The Cb-amber 30 is of suflicient capacity so that any unvaporized water passing thereto from the pipe 10 and passageways 1'9, .21 and .23 will remain in the chamber instead of passing into the pipe 32 at the top of the chamber or cap.

In passing from the chamber30 to the pipe the water-vapor preferably passes.

' through a spring pressed valve 34 which only in one direction.

may be of any suitable form, such as a ball valve. so as to permit passage of water-vapor By this means if the pressure in the pipe 32should become greater than. that in the chamber 30 the valve would close. thus preventing further passage until the proper reduced pressure is attained.

The feed of water or water-vapor passing I through the pipe 10 to the heater 14 is preferably controlled by suitable regulating means such as a valve. 36 by means of which the rate of feed to the heater and to the engine may be adjusted in accordance with the speed or vacuum of the engine and in accordance with its temperature. If the tem-. perature of the engine is low, as in heating up for instance, the rate of feed of water or water-vapor should below; or desired, the

valve may be entirely closed. If'the engine is operating at high speed it will be necessary to open the valve more) to permit the desired amount of *WtItLP-Va-PUI' to pass through.

The valve 86 is preferably connected through "levers 38 and 40 to the dash board A2 of the automobile, a handle it being attached to the rod 40 permitting the operator to adjust the valve \vhilethe automobile is in operation. The valve 36 is preferably arranged, as shown .more particularly in Fig. 4, so that by turning the lever 38 through a quarter of a turn the valve may be completely opened'orclosed. r p 7 After the water-vapor has passed through the heater i l and out through the valve ,34

.it passes into the pipe 32fwhich leads to the intake manifold 46 at a point between.

the carburetor 48 and the engine ,6, At this point the Water-vapor mines withthe gasoline-air mixture or other fuel mixture produced by the carburetor which passes into the engine cylinders in the usual manner and is ignited or exploded. In the operation of the -(lQVlC8, the valv 36 is prcterably in th-e closed position while the engine is being started, and is'permi-tted to remain closed untilth-e engine heats up to a suitable temperature, with the apparent advantageous result that the water or watervapor passed. thereto will react with carbon separated out in the gases or which is deposited on the cylinder walls or on the piston heads of the engine. After the engine has been run a'suflicient time so that the exhaust manifold and the stove 14: are heated to a suitable temperature above the boiling pointof water, the valve 36is opened a s-ufiicient amount to admit water or watervapor from the radiator 2 through the pipe 10 to the'inlet 12 of the heater 14. the Water i 01' watenvapor being heated in passing therethrough to a temperature at-which it will; apparently react with the carbon in the engine presumably't'o produce gaseousproducts, which will pass with the exhaust gases out of the engine.

. As the pressure in the inlet manifold'is awhich the vapor tension is'high enough for substantial quantities of water-vapor to come ofli I may draw" off from the radiatoronly water or, if desired, a mixture of water and water-vapor may be drawn off, which in the heater will become entirely vaporized. If it is desired to withdraw only water from the radiator a branch pipe may be employed, the opening in the pipe below the radiator cap being closed; the branch pipe or auxiliary pipe may be connected to'the pipe lO and y may be provided with an opening below the surface of the water in the radiator. By this means a larger quantity of water'vapor may be supplied to the intake manifold between the carburetor and the engine than could be supplied by drawing off water-vapor alone from the radiator; Thus in caseswhere the engine becomes greatly overheated,

as in hill climbing,'for example, the deposition of carbon, which under such circumstances would be large, may be overcome by supplying water instead of water-vapor to the heater, whereby a larger pfoportion of water-vapor is supplied to the fuel mixture than would be possible through drawing off water-vapor alone from the radiator. In order to make up for loss of water from the radiator an auxiliary tank might be provided for supplying water thereto, particularly under conditions in which water would I be withdrawn therefrom at a ra id rate, and

automatic might be provided, i desired, for maintaining the water in the radiator up to a predetermined level, although for ordinary running such feeding means are unnecessary, as the rate of withdrawal of water-vapor from the radiator is comparatively slow.

While I have described my preferred arrangement or mode of carrying out my invention, it is to be understood that various changes or modifications may be made therein, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention as defined in the claims. By the term aqueous fluid as employed in the claims I mean to include liquid water, or water-vapor or a mixture of both.

I claim: a a 1. A heater adapted to be fastened to the exhaust manifold of an internal combustion engine, which comprises a substantially solid base portion, means for fastening said base portion to the exhaust manifold so as to conwater to be passed into anvinternal combustion engine, which comprises a base portion adapted to be connected to the exhaust manifold of an engine, a hollow cap member connected to the base portion, said hollow cap member andsaid base portion together forming a chamber, a passageway in saidbase portion leading into said chamber, and a passa eway from said chamber through the top of the cap member having a valve there'- in permitting exit of gases but preventing entrance therethrough.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts this 8th day of November 1926. i

. TOM HODGES. 

